FRANKFORT -- The U.S. must start making decisions now on how it will weather a decline in its share of the world's oil supply, the head of the state's Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) told state lawmakers yesterday.

"What we need to realize is whether peak oil production is here or is coming ... isn't really the question," CAER's Executive Director Rodney Andrews told the Interim Joint Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources. "The question is that our share of what's available is going to continue to decrease, because the rest of the world is demanding more and is willing to pay for it--more than we ever have."

Most of this competition, Andrews said, is coming from countries like China and India where the demand for oil has grown dramatically in recent years. That competition, combined with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) recent unwillingness to boost production and other factors means the U.S. must find other ways to meet its fuel demands.

The best time to do that is now, he said.

"Right now we tend to operate in a responsive mode. 'Oil prices are going up, let's do something,'" Andrews said. "We need to start making decisions about what we're going to do."

That means taking a hard look at energy efficiency, considering alternative fuels and even a possible move to mass transit across the country, he said.

"We have to increase efficiency in everything from electrical power production to vehicles to what we do with our lighting," said Andrews, adding there is "no silver bullet" to solve the energy challenges facing the nation.

Committee Co-Chair Rep. Jim Gooch, D-Providence, asked Andrews if he felt the nation's energy demands can be met without the use of coal, which powers thousands of electrical power plants across the country. The answer was no.

"I don't believe any rational energy policy can eliminate coal," he said.

The need for increased oil refining capacity was also discussed. Andrews said many refineries in the nation are aging and new ones are needed, although those would take at least five to 10 years to build.

Rep. Mike Cherry, D-Princeton, suggested that everyone has some role to play in meeting America's energy needs.

"I'm of the opinion that we, as a legislature, ought to be figuring out ways to (encourage) an unwanting citizenry--myself included--to be more conservative with energy," Cherry said.